Happy Sunday, friends! It’s been a wild couple of weeks here at the home office in KC. I can’t remember a time of such intense work in such a short period.

One of the really interesting (read: challenging) parts of growing a firm like Novel is figuring out which things to pay attention to and which things to let go. Raising capital? That’s probably going to have to be Carlos and me. (And who am I kidding; even though it’s a slog I love the process and the experience - it’s one of those things that I actually relish even though it keeps me up at night.) Making investment decisions? Same, and again, I love that part of our work. Structuring complicated things? Yeah, probably the same. All of those things are hard, and that might be why I love doing them.

But as a co-founder it can be challenging, as we grow, to stay out of some of the stuff that I love to do; figuring out how to prioritize what's important.  This is a moment of growth for me personally and also for the firm.  And I'm feeling it. 

You know that very first conversation with an entrepreneur? The one where you get to learn about the person and the business and get a sense for what they’re all about? I love that, so it’s tough to hand some of that off. There are two silver linings though: (1) I still get deeply involved in the investments we make and get to know the entrepreneurs along the way, just later in the process; and (2) letting our teammates take this role allows us to grow (and helps great people grow as they learn how to build something along the way). 

Anyway, that’s what’s on my mind, and I feel fortunate to wrestle with these issues. Speaking of which, I better get back to it. Turns out this work won't do itself.

Love,
Keith